Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.40% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX), which rose 7.06% or 0.090 points to trade at 1.365 at the close. A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M) added 6.15% or 0.120 points to end at 2.070 and Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) was up 5.50% or 0.220 points to 4.220 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sydney Airport Holdings Ltd (AX:SYD), which lost 5.47% or 0.350 points to trade at 6.050 in late trade. Sonic Healthcare Ltd (AX:SHL) declined 2.54% or 0.550 points to end at 21.120 and Sirtex Medical Ltd (AX:SRX) shed 1.96% or 0.290 points to 14.470.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 555 to 476 and 301 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.29% to 10.534 a new 52-week low.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.34% or 3.80 to $1137.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.34% or 0.18 to hit $53.48 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.31% or 0.17 to trade at $55.52 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.04% to 0.7257, while AUD/JPY fell 0.26% to 85.31.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.15% at 103.10.